{"id":24257,"date":"2023-06-16T18:37:23","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T10:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-blue-origin-others-highlighted-in-new-nasa-low-earth-orbit-partnerships\/"},"modified":"2023-06-16T18:37:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T10:37:23","slug":"spacex-blue-origin-others-highlighted-in-new-nasa-low-earth-orbit-partnerships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-blue-origin-others-highlighted-in-new-nasa-low-earth-orbit-partnerships\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX, Blue Origin, others highlighted in new NASA low-Earth orbit partnerships"},"content":{"rendered":"

On June 15, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced its intention to partner with seven U.S. aerospace companies in order to advance human spaceflight and the commercial low-Earth orbit economy.<\/p>\n

The agency stated in a press release that these partnerships \u2014 done through the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities-2 initiative (CCSC-2) along with unfunded Space Act Agreements \u2014 are designed to ultimately benefit commercial space-related efforts through NASA contributions. This will include the sharing of technical expertise, data, assessments, and other technologies.\n<\/p>\n

With NASA oversight, these commercial projects will have a greater opportunity to meet future needs from the private and government sectors, in the name of fostering a robust and sustainable low-Earth orbit ecosystem.<\/p>\n

In selecting proposals, NASA evaluated their relevance towards achieving the agency\u2019s goals and the overall feasibility of each company\u2019s business and technical approach. Each company will also put forth its own development costs into their respective projects.<\/p>\n

The seven companies selected through the CCSC-2 program are as follows: Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space Corporation, SpaceX, Special Aerospace Services, ThinkOrbital Inc., and Vast Space LLC.<\/p>\n

Blue Origin<\/em><\/p>\n

Blue Origin\u2019s proposal highlights the development of an integrated commercial space transportation capability, intended to ensure affordable and high-frequency U.S. access to low Earth orbit for both cargo and crew missions.<\/p>\n

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Blue Origin\u2019s manufacturing and processing facilities at Exploration Park. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF\/L2)<\/p>\n

This likely pertains to the use of orbital-class launch systems such as the heavy-lift New Glenn \u2014 currently in production and set to conduct its maiden launch no earlier than 2024 \u2014 and orbital spacecraft like Boeing\u2019s Starliner and Sierra Space\u2019s Dream Chaser spaceplane, among others.<\/p>\n

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As with their suborbital New Shepard rocket, Blue Origin is designing New Glenn to be crew-rated, enabling it to support human spaceflight missions. The company has previously stated that space tourism flights on New Glenn would also be offered, with New Shepard astronauts getting first access.<\/p>\n

Past work on orbital subsystems once saw Blue Origin developing their own crew-capable spacecraft, with the biconic Space Vehicle competing under NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) initiative. It is unknown whether any similar projects are currently in the works.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n